WINE OF THE WEEK: Bodega Lurton Flor de Torrontes

Wine: Bodega Lurton Flor de Torrontes

Grape: Torrontes

Region: Valle de Uco, Argentina

Vintage: 2006

Price: $5.99

In the glass: Flor de Torrontes wine is a firm golden citrine-yellow color with a slight orangy tinge, star-bright clean and clear core going out into a glass-clear rim definition and light-to-medium viscosity.

On the nose: There is immediate and attractively pungent pear juice, honeydew melon, Braeburn applesauce, apricot skins and pungent chalky minerals underlying with absolutely no hints of wood or oak and just touches of marzipan and almond milk underlying.

On the palate: It is a lovely and thoroughly coating mouthful of white wine with very different characteristics from, say, chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. You first get the apple-laced fruits with forward yet balanced acidity and structure underneath, then there’s white currants, white cranberry juice, pomelolike citrus notes, steely minerality going through the midpalate and just remarkable length, which ends in a soft, but very dry note. It is a tremendously interesting tasting and drinking experience.

Odds and ends: This wine is made from a white grape variety called torrontes, which is aromatic and dry at the same time, not like any other white wines that you may know, but utterly delicious and crisp for this kind of weather. It comes from a great little place called Valle de Uco in Central Argentina, which is at a choice spot at the foot of the Andes Mountains. Bodega Lurton was started by some old friends of mine from Bordeaux, France, almost 20 years ago and their wines have been a raging success at home and abroad. The torrontes-based wines are Argentina’s white wine specialty just as their full-bodied malbecs have become famous in the red wine category. And Flor de Torrontes is such a delightful drink, here even at full maturity, that you might just end up ditching the sauvignon blancs for it, especially at this price point. Chill it to 52 degrees Fahrenheit and drink it by the glass or you can pair it with a grilled piece of white fish, such as sea bass or bream. Drink it now through the rest of the year.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.